Home Contact Us

Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Yes, it would be simpler as it would be a very very short list!

Posted By: ...nm on 2006-08-31
In Reply to: Wouldn't it be simpler if they listed truths? LOL - passerby

nm

Complete Discussion Below:

marks the location of current message within thread

Bush administration "Lie by Lie" archive - Liberal
- Wouldn't it be simpler if they listed truths? LOL - passerby
  - Yes, it would be simpler as it would be a very very short list! - ...nm
    - I guess nobody would agree to print a blank page. (NT) - Liberal

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

Other related messages found in our database

She was vetted several months ago, back when she made his short list.

I will try to put it simpler for you.
We have put a lot of faith in our government because our economy was booming. Now our economy is not doing so well. We put our faith in the government and it let us down. Obama wants bigger government. Why would we want bigger government when government has failed us. The bigger government is, the more power we give it to control out lives. Obama wants to take away a person's right to have a gun. You take away our guns and we won't have anything to defend ourselves with. In the past dictators have taken away weapons from people so we have nothing to fight back with. Here Obama wants to take away our guns. You do the math.

Yes - and payroll would be cheaper, simpler too.
Companies incur unbelievable costs trying to handle withholdings properly. Now, imagine that you've got just two numbers to deal with - 10% or 25%. The savings would be very significant.

I'm surprised by the 10% rate, however. I had always heard from proponents of the flat tax that it would have to be more like 17-20% to keep the government running (even before the government became even more bloated). Of course, they were talking about the same rate for everyone, not a two-tiered system like this, so perhaps the 25% bracket makes up the difference.

Wouldn't it be simpler if they listed truths? LOL

Well said! Short and to the point! LOL

It's the best I could do on short notice. sm
Suffice it to say, I am not comfortable with portraying the US as the Great Satan and whatever role we have or have not played, everyone turns to us in time of need, now don't they. And I mean EVERYONE, every single country. So how bad are we really? Just as I do not believe the Islamofascists are jealous of us for what we have, and they aren't, I do not believe that portraying the US as the Great Satan is going to win us any brownie points with terrorists who already hate us. So if you and Chomsky are comfortable with putting every man, woman and child in this country at risk to satisfy whatever beef you have against freedom and democracy, fine. Your freedom of speech had a most terrible and high price tag. Something tells me that many of these fine men and women, if they could speak now, would not thank you for your thoughts.

Short answer would be
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040420-2.html
In 2004: **Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.**

short reply
So the success in Iraq apparently means nothing. Wow.

Actually is first name is D!ck (yes I know - short for Richard)
But, I've never heard him to be called Richard. But D!ck is a bad word and it wouldn't let me say it in the message. HA HA HA - I think thats too funny.

Did you see the short interview she did with ...sm
reporters where she was asked to comment on her censure by the Alaska legislature? She totally ignores the fact that she was censored for unethical behavior in the interference she allowed to occur trying to get the trooper fired. She just said she was grateful to the Alaska legislature for absolving her of unethical or criminal behavior in the firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, no mention of what she was actually censored for. Unbelievable!

"Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, the chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday".

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOTk11gvqDAgD0cY3i4WjI_2YOxwD93O25DG0

And, it is a very short drive!
xxx

Short quiz...(sm)
Who was the president on 09/11/2001? People seem to forget that for some reason.

I have a lot to do, therefore my postings are short....
and I am young, not senile.

In four short months

(1/3 of a year, 1/12 of his term) O has put this country further in debt than any previous president. With the complicity of congress he is printing money like a drunken counterfeiter. He has stood the US on its head and emptied its pockets. He is actually running some of its businesses as well. He has his eye on controlling healthcare. He is trying hard to disarm and silence dissenters, subtly at first, but this will become more heavy-handed as time passes.

Do the math. Must we really wait a full year (let along his full term) to figure how much deeper this hole is going to get? The laws of economics have not been suspended just because of his miraculous election. Government is not the answer, it is the problem.

Let's try this experiment: I'll keep doing what I've been doing (laying in food supplies, planting a garden, stacking firewood, saving money, storing other necessities, preparing to care for and defend my own family) and the rest of you keep doing what you've been doing (waiting for Obama's ''plan'' to work or for him to take care of you). We'll check back in a year and see who's preparations worked better. Okay?

Short attention span?

Short memory span?

Is there a reason why you repeat yourself over and over and over and over and over and over again? Rehashing the same ridiculous complaints over and over and over and over and over and over again?

Why don't you post the butt in a chair thing a few more times? You guys have called us more or less drugged out hippies with references to what we must be smoking, what we must have been doing in the 60s and our hookahs. You ain't exactly perfect. Now if I post this paragraph about ten more times you might get the idea, right?

My take on the subject, the short version.
Every country has some form of socialized medicine. Ours is comprised of the poor, the elderly, and those giving service to our country (military and political of which number in the millions) both past and present that encompasses their family members as well through different benefit packages depending on where they fall within the system. I believe the major argument is about extending those benefits in a social manner outside of what is already in place.

You said a mouthful in a few short words.
nm

A day late and a dollar short......
xx

well....I stop short of calling him the....
antichrist. But the fact that seemingly intelligent people lose all sense of reason when he opens his mouth does give one pause. That's for sure.

This has George Soros written ALL over it.

Short clip (less than 3 min.) Please watch this.
http://www.youtube.=om/watch?v=rUEQz5dltmI

I think he's a few chocolate chips short of
;D

I just voted too...very short line :-) nm
x

Pertaining to the short 03/10/09 duel

between A.Nonymous and North to Home.

A.Nonymous made general comments about three groups of people who will still feel entitled to be on the public dole under O�s regime and also said that anybody wanting to get ahead in this country needs to be able to speak standard English and not Ebonics, Spanish, ... etc.

North to Home felt personally attacked, resorted to personal name-calling and hurled accusations such as: Inflammatory, blatantly racist, underlying hatred, prejudice and hatred of all people different from you, cowardly, insulting, nasty, racist bigoted rants, sickening, [more bigotry, more hatred, more prejudice, blah, blah, blah.]

I�ve been waiting for others to weigh in on this but nobody wants to touch it. It�s a tough job but somebody�s gotta do it. So I will.

North to Home: The only one making personal attacks is you. Toughen up, baby. To participate on this board you have to develop rhino hide. [No that is not a slur against anybody with African roots. Don�t start up with me about it.] This is a place for reasoned political opinion and discussion, not angry overreaction. Chill. Don�t post when you are so obviously angry. Anyone who resorts to name-calling in a political argument needs to work on objectivity. We argue, we don�t attack.

A.Nonymous: You used the term �bitter 200-year descendents of ex-slaves� and the word Ebonics, both of which got North to Home�s knickers in a twist. [Not exactly a diplomatic choice of words and by my math only about 144 years since the end of the Civil War.] But the pertinent word was �bitter�. I agree that those still bitter about slavery after 100+ years and about segregation after 40+ years need to examine their own prejudices, then get on with improving their own lives and their children�s lives. None of us on this board has ever bought or sold another human being and I am not accepting collective guilt because a centuries-ago ancestor may have.

North to Home: You are apparently still angry about your father's treatment while serving in the segregated US military during the Korean War 50 years ago. Yet he was able to bring you up right, educate you and teach you the value of hard work. Weren't his experiences what made it possible for him to do that?

Short blog from watershed wordpress...sm

Mon 21 Mar 2005
a culture of life?

I don�t know what it is about this Schiavo case that is driving me nuts and pissing me off to no end. It just seems like the epitome of contradictions, hypocrisy and doublespeak. Even beyond the implications for the �sanctity of marriage� and the over 17,000 Iraqis, and over 1500 US soldiers killed in the Iraq War as I ranted about in this post.

There�s a great article in the Washington Post about Bush�s record on life and death here.

Bush on Schiavo: ��we must err on the side of life��

Bush on Karla Faye Tucker: �Please,� Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, �don�t kill me.�

Let us not forgot Bush oversaw 152 executions while the governor of Texas.

And let�s not forgot about the baby who was taken off of life support against his parent�s wishes, in Texas as a result of a Texas law (passed by none other than our president) that states the hospital can make decisions about the termination of life over the family. (as I post this, Keith Olberman has started talking about the same thing!). You can read about this here (link not in repost).

Wait, I am comparing someone like Terri Schiavo, to a convicted killer like Karla Faye Tucker, to thousands of Iraqis, to US soldiers, and to a little baby? You bet I freakin� am. Isn�t that what a �culture of life� would be all about?
-------

Nope MT, he has done some things wrong :(

Short clip on world government. sm
People have been warning us including Presidents it is coming, and getting called kooks and conspiracy theorists. Little by little, it is all starting to show up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JATcBFbvcI

Obama bailout up to just short of a trillion....
and he has been in office HOW long? lol. Doesn't count the billions we already spent. This is new spending. Talk about spending like a drunken sailor....lol. Hello democratic majority. LOL.

Hey, don't lose heart....look what he has done in 3 short weeks with...
the power you folks gave him. He has a LONG time left to do his O magic. When we are all lining up for the checks (well, that is if you lose your job and don't have to pay taxes as those are the folks who are going to get the biggest handout), just remember who put the great benefactor in Washington there and gave him carte blanche. Uh...that would be you. :)

Short article on some real legends and also a reply to ....

that endless droning on about supporting the troops.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0129-01.htm

http://killfile.newsvine.com/_news/2007/01/29/542577-the-hell-i-cant-supporting-the-troops-not-the-war

your view is naive, short-sighted and simplistic
I don't want to get caught up in a debate here. Americans can buy whatever they want. You are right. But then when your job is gone, don't complain about it because you fed the problem instead of solving it. If you don't support American companies, you are supporting some other economy instead of your own. How can the American economy ever survive if Americans do not support it? There is a bigger picture here, and I believe you are missing it. The failure of the automakers would affect every other business and service in this country, including ours, by a ripple effect. So when you lose your job because the number of hospital and physician visits is reduced since none of them has insurance anymore and no one can afford medical care anymore, remember what you said here. If they fail, we all will lose from it.

Stimulus plan...the short version....no one talks about....
Obama: I'm going to give you a one-time $500 tax rebate check.

I'm also going to give those people who don't work for a living, or pay into the system, a $500 check too.

Oh, did I forget to mention.....

You're going to owe the govt. $10,000 in taxes, once I can get away with asking you all to foot the bill for my stimulus package.

Stimulus plan...the short version....no one talks about....
Obama: My trillion dollar stimulus package, very dire, we must do something NOW, right now, before it gets worse. Therefore I'm going to......

I'm going to give you a one-time $500 check.

I'm also going to give those people who don't work for a living, or pay into the system, a $500 check too.

Oh, did I forget to mention.....

You're going to owe the U.S. govt. $10,000 in taxes, once I can get away with asking you all to foot the bill for my stimulus package.

Nope - just deploring the short-term thinking of
Usually, this means that whoever replaces the Dear (Departed) Leader will be just as bad or worse.

Oh, I know what the Brotherhood of Amalgamated Assassins Union will say - that sometimes whoever follows can't possibly be as bad. To this, I would reply "Never underestimate the capacity of any politician to be far worse than you ever imagined he could be."

...and forget the line of succession. Consider the possibility that the Widow Obama could then run in 2012, snaffling the sympathy vote! GAK!!

Quality is Job One.

Granny Accused of Looting Freed...see short article.sm
KENNER, La. � A 73-year-old diabetic grandmother and church elder who fled Katrina's floodwaters for the safety of a hotel ended up in prison instead for more than two weeks � all over a bite of food.

Police in this New Orleans suburb arrested Merlene Maten (search) the day after the hurricane on charges she took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli. Though never before in trouble with the law, her bail was set at a stiff $50,000 and she was shipped away to a state penitentiary.

Family and eyewitnesses insist Maten's prison odyssey was unwarranted, claiming she only had gone to her car to get some sausage to eat when officers cuffed her in frustration, unable to catch younger looters at a nearby store.

Despite intervention from the nation's largest senior lobby, volunteer lawyers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (search) and even a private attorney, the family fought a futile battle for 16 days to get her freed.

Then, hours after her plight was featured in an Associated Press story, a local judge on Thursday ordered Maten freed on her own recognizance, setting up a sweet reunion with her daughter, grandchildren and 80-year-old husband.

Short attention span explains alliance with Bush.
Now it's all starting to make sense. See article. Don't bother to read article. Form knee-jerk negative opinion based on prejudice against liberals rather than facts. Refuse to read/accepts facts (too time consuming). Ignore all gray areas in life; deal in only black and white. Vote for Bush. When things get worse, vote for him again because neocons are never wrong.

He has shown a short-form fraud piece of garbage. I
nm

Bush's Iraq Speech: Long On Assertion, Short On Facts

Bush says "progress is uneven" in Iraq, but accentuates positive evidence and mostly ignores the negative.

June 30, 2005

Standing before a crowd of uniformed soldiers, President Bush addressed the nation on June 27 to reaffirm America's commitment to the global war on terrorism. But throughout the speech Bush continually stated his opinions and conclusions as though they were facts, and he offered little specific evidence to support his assertions.

Here we provide some additional context, both facts that support Bush's case that "we have made significant progress" in Iraq, as well as some of the negative evidence he omitted.

Analysis

Bush's prime-time speech at Fort Bragg, NC coincided with the one-year anniversary of the handover of soverignty to Iraqi authorities. It was designed to lay out America's role in Iraq amid sinking public support for the war and calls by some lawmakers to withdraw troops.

The Bloodshed

Bush acknowledged the high level of violence in Iraq as he sought to reassure the public.

Bush: The work in Iraq is difficult and dangerous. Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is horrifying and the suffering is real. Amid all this violence, I know Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifice worth it?

What Bush did not mention is that by most measures the violence is getting worse. Both April and May were record months in Iraq for car bombings, for example, with more than 135 of them being set off each month. And the bombings are getting more deadly. May was a record month for deaths from bombings, with 381 persons killed in "multiple casualty" bombings that took two or more lives, according to figures collected by the Brookings Institution in its "Iraq Index." The Brookings index is compiled from a variety of sources including official government statistics, where those are available, and other public sources such as news accounts and statements of Iraqi government officials.

The number of Iraqi police and military who have been killed is also rising, reaching 296 so far in June, nearly triple the 109 recorded in January and 103 in Febrary, according to a tally of public information by the website Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, a private group that documents each fatality from public statements and news reports. Estimates of the total number of Iraqi civilians killed each month as a result of "acts of war" have been rising as well, according to the Brookings index.

The trend is also evident in year-to-year figures. In the past twelve months, there have been 25% more U.S. troop fatalities and nearly double the average number of insurgent attacks per day as there were in the preceeding 12 months.

Reconstruction Progress

In talking about Iraqi reconstruction, Bush highlighted the positive and omitted the negative:

Bush: We continued our efforts to help them rebuild their country. . . . Our progress has been uneven but progress is being made. We are improving roads and schools and health clinics and working to improve basic services like sanitation, electricity and water. And together with our allies, we will help the new Iraqi government deliver a better life for its citizens.

Indeed, the State Department's most recent Iraq Weekly Status Report shows progress is uneven. Education is a positive; official figures show 3,056 schools have been rehabilitated and millions of "student kits" have been distributed to primary and secondary schools. School enrollments are increasing. And there are also 145 new primary healthcare centers currently under construction. The official figures show 78 water treatment projects underway, nearly half of them completed, and water utility operators are regularly trained in two-week courses.

On the negative side, however, State Department figures show overall electricity production is barely above pre-war levels. Iraqis still have power only 12 hours daily on average.

Iraqis are almost universally unhappy about that. Fully 96 percent of urban Iraqis said they were dissatisfied when asked about "the availability of electricity in your neighborhood." That poll was conducted in February for the U.S. military, and results are reported in Brookings' "Iraq Index." The same poll also showed that 20 percent of Iraqi city-dwellers still report being without water to their homes.

Conclusions or Facts?

The President repeatedly stated his upbeat conclusions as though they were facts. For example, he said of "the terrorists:"

Bush: They failed to break our coalition and force a mass withdrawal by our allies. They failed to incite an Iraqi civil war.

In fact, there have been withdrawals by allies. Spain pulled out its 1,300 soldiers in April, and Honduras brought home its 370 troops at the same time. The Philippines withdrew its 51 troops last summer to save the life of a Filipino hostage held captive for eight months in Iraq. Ukraine has already begun a phased pullout of its 1,650-person contingent, which the Defense Ministry intends to complete by the end of the year. Both the Netherlands and Italy have announced plans to withdraw their troops, and the Bulgarian parliament recently granted approval to bring home its 450 soldiers. Poland, supplying the third-largest contingent in the coalition after Italy's departure, has backed off a plan for full withdrawal of troops due to the success of Iraqi elections and talks with Condoleezza Rice, but the Polish Press Agency announced in June that the next troop rotation will have 200 fewer soldiers.

Bush is of course entitled to argue that these withdrawals don't constitute a "mass" withdrawal, but an argument isn't equivalent to a fact.

The same goes for Bush's statement there's no "civil war" going on. In fact, some believe that what's commonly called the "insurgency" already is a "civil war" or something very close to it. For example, in an April 30 piece, the Times of London quotes Colonel Salem Zajay, a police commander in Southern Baghdad, as saying, "The war is not between the Iraqis and the Americans. It is between the Shia and the Sunni." Again, Bush is entitled to state his opinion to the contrary, but stating a thing doesn't make it so.

Terrorism

Similarly, Bush equated Iraqi insurgents with terrorists who would attack the US if they could.

Bush: There is only one course of action against them: to defeat them abroad before they attack us at home. . . . Our mission in Iraq is clear. We are hunting down the terrorists .

Despite a few public claims to the contrary, however, no solid evidence has surfaced linking Iraq to attacks on the United States, and Bush offered none in his speech. The 9/11 Commission issued a staff report more than a year ago saying "so far we have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." It said Osama bin Laden made a request in 1994 to establish training camps in Iraq, but "but Iraq apparently never responded." That was before bin Laden was ejected from Sudan and moved his operation to Afghanistan.

Bush laid stress on the "foreign" or non-Iraqi elements in the insurgency as evidence that fighting in Iraq might prevent future attacks on the US:

Bush: I know Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it, and it is vital to the future security of our country . And tonight I will explain the reasons why.
Some of the violence you see in Iraq is being carried out by ruthless killers who are converging on Iraq to fight the advance of peace and freedom. Our military reports that we have killed or captured hundreds of foreign fighters in Iraq who have come from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and other nations.

But Bush didn't mention that the large majority of insurgents are Iraqis, not foreigners. The overall strength of the insurgency has been estimated at about 16,000 persons. The number of foreign fighters in Iraq is only about 1,000, according to estimates reported by the Brookings Institution. The exact number is of course impossible to know. However, over the course of one week during the major battle for Fallujah in November of 2004, a Marine official said that only about 2% of those detained were foreigners. To be sure, Brookings notes that "U.S. military believe foreign fighters are responsible for the majority of suicide bombings in Iraq," with perhaps as many as 70 percent of bombers coming from Saudi Arabia alone. It is anyone's guess how many of those Saudi suicide bombers might have attempted attacks on US soil, but a look at the map shows that a Saudi jihadist can drive across the border to Baghdad much more easily than getting nearly halfway around the world to to the US.

Osama bin Laden

Bush quoted a recent tape-recorded message by bin Laden as evidence that the Iraq conflict is "a central front in the war on terror":

Bush: Hear the words of Osama bin Laden: "This Third World War is raging" in Iraq..."The whole world is watching this war." He says it will end in "victory and glory or misery and humiliation."

However, Bush passed over the fact that the relationship between bin Laden and the Iraqi insurgents � to the extent one existed at all before � grew much closer after the US invaded Iraq. Insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi did not announce his formal allegiance with bin Laden until October, 2004. It was only then that Zarqawi changed the name of his group from "Unification and Holy War Group" to "al Qaeda in Iraq."

In summary, we found nothing false in what Bush said, only that his facts were few and selective.

--by Brooks Jackson & Jennifer L. Ernst

Researched by Matthew Barge, Kevin Collins & Jordan Grossman

Yeah, just heard today he decided to cut his vacation short to deal with the
huricaine. Sheesh.

Stimulus plan...the short version (fine print)....no one talks about....
Obama: My trillion dollar stimulus package, very dire, we must do something NOW, right now, before it gets worse. (I can sell anything...just tell me what to say.....) Therefore I'm going to......

I'm going to give you a one-time $500 check.

I'm also going to give those people who don't work for a living, or pay into the system, a $500 check too.

Oh, did I forget to mention.....

Each one of you taxpayers are going to owe the U.S. govt. $10,000 in taxes, once I can get away with asking you all to foot the bill for my stimulus package. (2 years down the line or so.....when we have to become fiscally responsible)

Add this to the list
Remember a while back when this story first hit the fan and the cons from the other board came over to tell us we are paranoid? Boy, life sure is simpler if you drink the Kool-Aid, isn't it?

A representative from Qwest just told me they have had lots of calls switching their service over to them.

By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans � most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: The NSA record collection program

It's the largest database ever assembled in the world, said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is to create a database of every call ever made within the nation's borders, this person added.

For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made � across town or across the country � to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.

The three telecommunications companies are working under contract with the NSA, which launched the program in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the sources said. The program is aimed at identifying and tracking suspected terrorists, they said.

The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.

Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, nominated Monday by President Bush to become the director of the CIA, headed the NSA from March 1999 to April 2005. In that post, Hayden would have overseen the agency's domestic call-tracking program. Hayden declined to comment about the program.

The NSA's domestic program, as described by sources, is far more expansive than what the White House has acknowledged. Last year, Bush said he had authorized the NSA to eavesdrop � without warrants � on international calls and international e-mails of people suspected of having links to terrorists when one party to the communication is in the USA. Warrants have also not been used in the NSA's efforts to create a national call database.

In defending the previously disclosed program, Bush insisted that the NSA was focused exclusively on international calls. In other words, Bush explained, one end of the communication must be outside the United States.

As a result, domestic call records � those of calls that originate and terminate within U.S. borders � were believed to be private.

Sources, however, say that is not the case. With access to records of billions of domestic calls, the NSA has gained a secret window into the communications habits of millions of Americans. Customers' names, street addresses and other personal information are not being handed over as part of NSA's domestic program, the sources said. But the phone numbers the NSA collects can easily be cross-checked with other databases to obtain that information.

Don Weber, a senior spokesman for the NSA, declined to discuss the agency's operations. Given the nature of the work we do, it would be irresponsible to comment on actual or alleged operational issues; therefore, we have no information to provide, he said. However, it is important to note that NSA takes its legal responsibilities seriously and operates within the law.

The White House would not discuss the domestic call-tracking program. There is no domestic surveillance without court approval, said Dana Perino, deputy press secretary, referring to actual eavesdropping.

She added that all national intelligence activities undertaken by the federal government are lawful, necessary and required for the pursuit of al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorists. All government-sponsored intelligence activities are carefully reviewed and monitored, Perino said. She also noted that all appropriate members of Congress have been briefed on the intelligence efforts of the United States.

The government is collecting external data on domestic phone calls but is not intercepting internals, a term for the actual content of the communication, according to a U.S. intelligence official familiar with the program. This kind of data collection from phone companies is not uncommon; it's been done before, though never on this large a scale, the official said. The data are used for social network analysis, the official said, meaning to study how terrorist networks contact each other and how they are tied together.

Carriers uniquely positioned

AT&T recently merged with SBC and kept the AT&T name. Verizon, BellSouth and AT&T are the nation's three biggest telecommunications companies; they provide local and wireless phone service to more than 200 million customers.

The three carriers control vast networks with the latest communications technologies. They provide an array of services: local and long-distance calling, wireless and high-speed broadband, including video. Their direct access to millions of homes and businesses has them uniquely positioned to help the government keep tabs on the calling habits of Americans.

Among the big telecommunications companies, only Qwest has refused to help the NSA, the sources said. According to multiple sources, Qwest declined to participate because it was uneasy about the legal implications of handing over customer information to the government without warrants.

Qwest's refusal to participate has left the NSA with a hole in its database. Based in Denver, Qwest provides local phone service to 14 million customers in 14 states in the West and Northwest. But AT&T and Verizon also provide some services � primarily long-distance and wireless � to people who live in Qwest's region. Therefore, they can provide the NSA with at least some access in that area.

Created by President Truman in 1952, during the Korean War, the NSA is charged with protecting the United States from foreign security threats. The agency was considered so secret that for years the government refused to even confirm its existence. Government insiders used to joke that NSA stood for No Such Agency.

In 1975, a congressional investigation revealed that the NSA had been intercepting, without warrants, international communications for more than 20 years at the behest of the CIA and other agencies. The spy campaign, code-named Shamrock, led to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was designed to protect Americans from illegal eavesdropping.

Enacted in 1978, FISA lays out procedures that the U.S. government must follow to conduct electronic surveillance and physical searches of people believed to be engaged in espionage or international terrorism against the United States. A special court, which has 11 members, is responsible for adjudicating requests under FISA.

Over the years, NSA code-cracking techniques have continued to improve along with technology. The agency today is considered expert in the practice of data mining � sifting through reams of information in search of patterns. Data mining is just one of many tools NSA analysts and mathematicians use to crack codes and track international communications.

Paul Butler, a former U.S. prosecutor who specialized in terrorism crimes, said FISA approval generally isn't necessary for government data-mining operations. FISA does not prohibit the government from doing data mining, said Butler, now a partner with the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, D.C.

The caveat, he said, is that personal identifiers � such as names, Social Security numbers and street addresses � can't be included as part of the search. That requires an additional level of probable cause, he said.

The usefulness of the NSA's domestic phone-call database as a counterterrorism tool is unclear. Also unclear is whether the database has been used for other purposes.

The NSA's domestic program raises legal questions. Historically, AT&T and the regional phone companies have required law enforcement agencies to present a court order before they would even consider turning over a customer's calling data. Part of that owed to the personality of the old Bell Telephone System, out of which those companies grew.

Ma Bell's bedrock principle � protection of the customer � guided the company for decades, said Gene Kimmelman, senior public policy director of Consumers Union. No court order, no customer information � period. That's how it was for decades, he said.

The concern for the customer was also based on law: Under Section 222 of the Communications Act, first passed in 1934, telephone companies are prohibited from giving out information regarding their customers' calling habits: whom a person calls, how often and what routes those calls take to reach their final destination. Inbound calls, as well as wireless calls, also are covered.

The financial penalties for violating Section 222, one of many privacy reinforcements that have been added to the law over the years, can be stiff. The Federal Communications Commission, the nation's top telecommunications regulatory agency, can levy fines of up to $130,000 per day per violation, with a cap of $1.325 million per violation. The FCC has no hard definition of violation. In practice, that means a single violation could cover one customer or 1 million.

In the case of the NSA's international call-tracking program, Bush signed an executive order allowing the NSA to engage in eavesdropping without a warrant. The president and his representatives have since argued that an executive order was sufficient for the agency to proceed. Some civil liberties groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, disagree.

Companies approached

The NSA's domestic program began soon after the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the sources. Right around that time, they said, NSA representatives approached the nation's biggest telecommunications companies. The agency made an urgent pitch: National security is at risk, and we need your help to protect the country from attacks.

The agency told the companies that it wanted them to turn over their call-detail records, a complete listing of the calling histories of their millions of customers. In addition, the NSA wanted the carriers to provide updates, which would enable the agency to keep tabs on the nation's calling habits.

The sources said the NSA made clear that it was willing to pay for the cooperation. AT&T, which at the time was headed by C. Michael Armstrong, agreed to help the NSA. So did BellSouth, headed by F. Duane Ackerman; SBC, headed by Ed Whitacre; and Verizon, headed by Ivan Seidenberg.

With that, the NSA's domestic program began in earnest.

AT&T, when asked about the program, replied with a comment prepared for USA TODAY: We do not comment on matters of national security, except to say that we only assist law enforcement and government agencies charged with protecting national security in strict accordance with the law.

In another prepared comment, BellSouth said: BellSouth does not provide any confidential customer information to the NSA or any governmental agency without proper legal authority.

Verizon, the USA's No. 2 telecommunications company behind AT&T, gave this statement: We do not comment on national security matters, we act in full compliance with the law and we are committed to safeguarding our customers' privacy.

Qwest spokesman Robert Charlton said: We can't talk about this. It's a classified situation.

In December, The New York Times revealed that Bush had authorized the NSA to wiretap, without warrants, international phone calls and e-mails that travel to or from the USA. The following month, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group, filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T. The lawsuit accuses the company of helping the NSA spy on U.S. phone customers.

Last month, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales alluded to that possibility. Appearing at a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Gonzales was asked whether he thought the White House has the legal authority to monitor domestic traffic without a warrant. Gonzales' reply: I wouldn't rule it out. His comment marked the first time a Bush appointee publicly asserted that the White House might have that authority.

Similarities in programs

The domestic and international call-tracking programs have things in common, according to the sources. Both are being conducted without warrants and without the approval of the FISA court. The Bush administration has argued that FISA's procedures are too slow in some cases. Officials, including Gonzales, also make the case that the USA Patriot Act gives them broad authority to protect the safety of the nation's citizens.

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., would not confirm the existence of the program. In a statement, he said, I can say generally, however, that our subcommittee has been fully briefed on all aspects of the Terrorist Surveillance Program. ... I remain convinced that the program authorized by the president is lawful and absolutely necessary to protect this nation from future attacks.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., declined to comment.

One company differs

One major telecommunications company declined to participate in the program: Qwest.

According to sources familiar with the events, Qwest's CEO at the time, Joe Nacchio, was deeply troubled by the NSA's assertion that Qwest didn't need a court order � or approval under FISA � to proceed. Adding to the tension, Qwest was unclear about who, exactly, would have access to its customers' information and how that information might be used.

Financial implications were also a concern, the sources said. Carriers that illegally divulge calling information can be subjected to heavy fines. The NSA was asking Qwest to turn over millions of records. The fines, in the aggregate, could have been substantial.

The NSA told Qwest that other government agencies, including the FBI, CIA and DEA, also might have access to the database, the sources said. As a matter of practice, the NSA regularly shares its information � known as product in intelligence circles � with other intelligence groups. Even so, Qwest's lawyers were troubled by the expansiveness of the NSA request, the sources said.

The NSA, which needed Qwest's participation to completely cover the country, pushed back hard.

Trying to put pressure on Qwest, NSA representatives pointedly told Qwest that it was the lone holdout among the big telecommunications companies. It also tried appealing to Qwest's patriotic side: In one meeting, an NSA representative suggested that Qwest's refusal to contribute to the database could compromise national security, one person recalled.

In addition, the agency suggested that Qwest's foot-dragging might affect its ability to get future classified work with the government. Like other big telecommunications companies, Qwest already had classified contracts and hoped to get more.

Unable to get comfortable with what NSA was proposing, Qwest's lawyers asked NSA to take its proposal to the FISA court. According to the sources, the agency refused.

The NSA's explanation did little to satisfy Qwest's lawyers. They told (Qwest) they didn't want to do that because FISA might not agree with them, one person recalled. For similar reasons, this person said, NSA rejected Qwest's suggestion of getting a letter of authorization from the U.S. attorney general's office. A second person confirmed this version of events.

In June 2002, Nacchio resigned amid allegations that he had misled investors about Qwest's financial health. But Qwest's legal questions about the NSA request remained.

Unable to reach agreement, Nacchio's successor, Richard Notebaert, finally pulled the plug on the NSA talks in late 2004, the sources said.

Contributing: John Diamond
Posted 5/10/2006 11:16 PM ET

Wow. That is quite a list
you've got there. It sounds like you would be happiest in another country and I am not being a smart aleck here. There are countries where your list is pretty much real life. Cuba, Equador, Paraguay, Uruguay to name a few. I know a man who just moved to Equador and he is quite happy. He went for many of the reasons you state. He really just wanted to be left alone. Besides, it is beautiful there...the Gallapagos Islands...the best mangoes in the world. I have given a lot of thought to moving out of the U.S. for a time anyway to try to gain some perspective. Just a thought.

P.S. I don't have a list

of bottom feeders. In this world of ever worsening crises, misery, pain, hunger, intolerance, etc., I am trying more and more to avoid what I consider to be the ugliness that I cab avoid; meaning I don't have to listen to, I don't have to read, etc. There is enough sadness that I cannot turn my back on but I can turn my back on bottom feeders.

List what he's done, please

Sean Hannity has been asking people all over the place, to no avail. I'm guessing you saw Newt & that NBC guy, who couldn't provide an answer?

At least you posed your piece in a respectful tone. The tone on this board has become so obnoxious that I could be in DailyKos Land and not even know the difference.

Sally Quinn even went on O'Reilly Factoid to admit she had been wrong about Sarah. That's impressive.

Acc. to your list......
almost everybody is then a natural-born-citizen.
Then no need to change the constitution.
Thank you for proving again that Obama is a natural-born American citizen.
I hope that the Republicans put this issue FINALLY to rest.

Add another one to the list...sm

Hurt by competition from Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and by pressure from the downturn in the economy that led shoppers to cut back on discretionary purchases, the 59-year old Circuit City Stores Inc. on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Circuit City's move came a week after the company, suffering from declining sales, traffic and cash, said that it planned to shut 155 U.S. underperforming stores and cut 7,300 jobs in a last-ditch effort to stay afloat.

Click link below for more info....................

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/circuit-city-files-chapter-11/story.aspx?guid=%7BD9CB8DE9-943F-4C3F-A007-24081B471F20%7D&dist=msr_5

Do you really want the list...(sm)

of broken promises from Bush? He had 8 years to get his done, and failed miserably. Obama has had what....3 whole days and you already want to crucify him? For all the whining you guys did about kool-aid drinkers thinking Obama is God, you seem to be the ones expecting miracles.

Here is a list.

Democrats and their affairs.

John F. Kennedy: widely known to have had many extramarital affairs while President - including one with Marylin Monroe.

William Jefferson Clinton- Gennifer Flowersgate - Paula Jonesgate- The Lewinsky Affair - Perjury and Jobs for Lewinskygate - Kathleen Willeygate - Jaunita Broaddrick Gate

John Edwards: Ex-Democrat presidential candidate and Senator- admitted to having an extramarital affair during his campaign for president while his wife was suffering from brast cancer.

Reverand Jesse Jackson: Ex-Democrat presidential candidate admitted in 2001 to having an extramarital affair and fathering a child out of wedlock.

Barney Frank: U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Admitted to having paid Stephen L. Gobie, a male prostitute, for sex and subsequently hiring Gobie as his personal assistant. Gobie used the congressman's Washington apartment for prostitution. A move to expel Frank from the House of Representatives failed and a motion to censure him failed.

Colorado Sen. Gary Hart: He was considered the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until the press uncovered his extramarital affair with 29-year-old model Donna Rice. He dropped out of the race a week later.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer: Democrat - New York governor - resigned from office after being tied to a prostitution ring and having affairs with prostitutes..

New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey: McGreevey resigned three months after admitting in 2004 that he had had an extramarital affair with a male employee.

Modesto Rep. Gary Condit: Authorities revealed Condit had an extramarital affair in 2001 with intern Chandra Levy, who had disappeared. In 2002, he lost a primary election, and Levy's remains were found in a Washington park. The case is still unsolved.

Florida U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney: admitted he had an affair with an aide and it is reported paid her $121,000 to keep her quiet and avoid a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Henry G. Cisneros: Former housing secretary under Bill Clinton pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of lying to the FBI about money he paid to a former mistress.

Rep. Mel Reynolds: of Illinois was convicted in 1995 of sexual assault against a 16-year-old girl- sentenced to five years in prison. President Bill Clinton pardoned him before leaving office.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick: Text messages indicate he had an extramarital affair with his chief of staff.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom: The mayor admitted an extramarital affair in 2007 with the wife of his former deputy chief of staff.

Marion Barry: Democrat - mayor of Washington, D.C., from 1979 to 1991 and again from 1995 to 1999. Convicted of cocaine possession after being caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine ith a longtime female friend.

Gov. David A. Paterson acknowledged Monday having extramarital affairs during a period in their 15-year marriage.

Gerry Eastman Studds - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1973 to 1997. The first openly gay member of Congress. Censured by the House of Representatives for having sexual relations with a teenage House page.

Former New York Rep. Fred Richmond: arrested in 1978 for soliciting sex from a 16-year-old boy. He remained in Congress and won re-election, but resigned in 1982 after pleading guilty to tax evasion and drug possession.

Jerry Springer - Democrat - Resigned from Cincinnati City Council in 1974 after admitting to paying a prostitute with a personal check, which was found in a police raid on a massage parlor.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: Announced he had a 2007 extramarital affair with a television reporter covering City Hall. He has filed for divorce from his wife, and remains in office.

David Giles: Candidate for U.S. Representative from Washington in 1986 and 1990. Convicted in June 2000 of child rape.

Neil Goldschmidt: Oregon governor. Admitted to having an illegal sexual relationship with a 14-year-old teenager while he was serving as Mayor of Portland.

Kentucky Governor Paul Patton: political career fell apart after allegations he retaliated against an ex-mistress' business when she ended the affair.

Ohio Rep. Wayne Hays: Rresigned from Congress in 1976 after his mistress, Elizabeth Ray, said he hired her as part of his staff.

Washington Sen. Brock Adams: abandoned a reelection campaign in 1992 amid numerous allegations from women of drugging, assault and rape.

West Virginia Governor Bob Wise: admitted to an extramarital affair;

Allan Turner Howe: U.S. Representative from Utah from 1975 to 1977. Arrested for soliciting a policewoman posing as a prostitute.

Joseph Waggonner Jr.: U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1961 to 1979. Arrested in Washington, D.C. for soliciting a policewoman posing as a prostitute.

I'm sure there are many pubs that have had affairs as well but I couldn't find an actual list.